Nearly fifteen years later, in the present day, Victoria is now the vice chancellor of New World University. New World is an institution that claims to offer spiritual guidance to distraught youth. In reality New World is the centre of operations for the Intelligence's plan to conquer the Earth by infecting the global network of computers. Both the administration and students await the coming of a "new world" that will be heralded by the arrival of the chancellor, the Intelligence-possessed Travers.

Victoria's motives are well-meaning but misguided, having been manipulated with a promise of the "light of truth". The students themselves have been brainwashed through their computer courses and are slaves of the Intelligence. Outsiders refer to them as "Chillys".

FIND THE LOCUS appears repeatedly on a computer monitor at New World University.

The Intelligence needs a final missing Locus to attain its goal. It believes it is in the possession of the Brigadier, but it is actually with his daughter Kate and grandson Gordon on their narrowboat.

New World attempts to gather information on the Brigadier by requesting an investigation by Sarah Jane Smith. Sarah lies about her knowledge of the Brigadier and later warns both him and UNIT. The Intelligence then arranges a meeting between the Brigadier and a corrupt UNIT captain named Cavendish.

Throughout the story the Brigadier is aided by a New World student named Daniel Hinton, a former student of his from Brendon Public School. The Intelligence's conditioning failed on Hinton, though at times he is still under its influence and at one point becomes a Yeti. He can communicate with the Brigadier through the bardo or astral plane.

A private reconstruction project by Ian Levine attempted to incorporate an older Seventh Doctor into the events of this story by having him meet a resurrected Padmasambhava by a chessboard at Det-Sen Monastery, his TARDIS having been pulled to the monastery. Padmasambhava was reanimated by the Great Intelligence and is much more mummified, having shrivelled up from extreme age when he first perished.

The Sarah Jane Adventures planned to use footage from Downtime for a flashback sequence: Gary Russell told Starburst "it would literally have been a clip – of Sarah with the Brigadier, I think. And the people behind Downtime said no."[1]

Before he passes out after being saved by Harrods, the Brigadier asks "Is it you? Have you changed again?" — a reference to the times he had seen the Doctor regenerate. (TV: Spearhead from Space, Planet of the Spiders)

"Find the Locus"It is twenty-five years since The Great Intelligence last attempted an invasion of Earth, today its evil web is again reaching out towards us!Using The New World University as its cover and the zombie-like Chilly students as its pawns, the Intelligence now seeks to control the minds of every human being.Tangled in this new struggle are its old enemies Victoria Waterfield and Professor Travers - but whose side are they on?Fighting alone this time, without their famous scientific advisor, The Brigadier and Sarah Jane Smith of UNIT are hard pressed to decide who is friend or foe as they search for the missing Locus which still binds the Intelligence's power.Battle is joined as the Brigadier's own family is threatened and UNIT faces a monstrous new breed of Yeti!

After being out of print for 20 years, One Media iP, a division of Koch Media, released it on DVD on 16 November 2015, with digitally restored video and alongside a new making of documentary using on-set footage and a post production featurette. It is the only Reeltime Pictures release to lack a digital version.